All I want for Christmas
by f.f. lindy
Summary: What do you want for Christmas this year?"


Title: All I want for Christmas  
  
Author: f f lindy  
  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimer: I think you've heard it enough to know  
  
Feedback: please vmf2004115@yahoo.com  
  
"So, have you got any big plans this weekend?"  
  
"No, Mulder, but I'm not leaving town on a case. I don't care how many farm workers saw aliens."  
  
"Well I wasn't even thinking of that but I'm sure if I look hard enough-"  
  
"Don't!" Scully interrupted. "Why do you ask then?"  
  
"I can't casually ask a friend what she's doing this weekend without having a motive?"  
  
"No," she said bluntly.  
  
"Fine, maybe I was going to ask you a favor- but I won't."  
  
"What?" she asked curiously.  
  
"No, I'm not going to ask."  
  
"Tell me," she demanded, amused.  
  
"Nope," he said stubbornly.  
  
"Fine, if I ask you a favor then I owe you one so you can ask me."  
  
"Not if I don't agree." He smiled with delight.  
  
"But you wouldn't turn me down," she told him, half questioning.  
  
"Why don't you find out?"  
  
"Well, I was going to go pick out a Christmas tree this weekend, and I could really use someone over 5'2" to help."  
  
"Do you go to the grocery store or to a tree farm?"  
  
"Well, I usually go to a lot." She explained  
  
"Sorry, then, no can do. I won't support those people who cut down trees, ship them until they're dead, and sell them for $70."  
  
"Where would you go?"  
  
"I'd go to a tree farm."  
  
"Alright. It would be fun to cut down my own tree for a change," Scully agreed. "So, what was your favor?"  
  
"When I was a kid my moms whole family did a gift exchange. When my grandma died, so did the tradition. But my cousin decided we should to it again this year. The point is I have to find a gift for my 30-year-old cousin and I have no idea what to get her. I thought you could help," he confessed.  
  
"I'd love to. Maybe while we're out you can help me find gifts for my nephews."  
  
"Sure, four-year-old boys are easy, 30-year-old women aren't."  
  
"So, do you want to pick me up tomorrow at ten? We can shop then go get the tree before we run out of daylight," she suggested.  
  
"Sounds good to me."  
  
************  
  
"Alright tell me a little bit about the woman we're shopping for," Scully requested as she got into Mulder's car.  
  
"Well, according to her yearly update- cleverly disguised as a Christmas card- she is 'better than Fox, neeener, neener, neener.'" He acted like he was reading it right off the paper.  
  
"Give me that." She grabbed the photo and letter from his hands. "Oh look at how cute her kids are." Scully sighed looking at the family photo.  
  
"Woo-hoo, she has cute kids," he said bitterly. "Where are we going?"  
  
"Let's start at the downtown mall," Scully suggested. She read the letter in the silence of the car. "Well," she said when she finished, "maybe if we look around for a while."  
  
They spent two hours in the house wears departments of every department store in the mall. "There might be something in here." Scully started towards another store.  
  
"No more!" Mulder chuckled. "No more placemats, ornaments, serving trays, mugs, or tablecloths. . ."Scully continued to drag him into the store. He whined like a puppy.  
  
"Come on," she picked up a vase. "What about this?"  
  
"Nancy needs a Barbie, or a hoola-hoop, not a vase. She's my younger cousin."  
  
"Mulder, I hate to break it to you but Nancy is a grown-up, and so are you."  
  
"Santa!" Mulder looked though the window and pointed at the long line of children in the mall.  
  
Scully rubbed he face with her hands. "Maybe we should go look for my nephews gifts. I think you need a break."  
  
"You can say that again." They left the store and walked towards the toy store. "What do you want for Christmas, Scully?"  
  
"Since when do we exchange gifts?"  
  
"Since I remembered to ask you what you want."  
  
"I'll think about it," she laughed and eyed a remote control car in the window display of the toy store. "How about that for Mathew?"  
  
"That might be a little to grown up for a four-year-old. You don't know many kids do you Scully?"  
  
*************  
  
Three hours later the pair got back into Mulder's car, Mulder with his cousin's gift and Scully with her nephews'. They drove to the tree farm and stepped out into the dirt. Scully took a deep breath. "You're right Mulder, this beats the lot on the corner by far." She said as she looked around at the fresh trees and sucked in the cold silence. They walked out into the field of trees. "How about this one?" Scully asked, pointing to a little tree.  
  
"Scully, it's not even 5 feet tall!"  
  
"So, its about the right size." She insisted.  
  
"No," he drug her to an eight-foot tree, "this is a Christmas tree."  
  
"Hey Mulder," she said, reaching both arms as high as she could and still falling more than a foot short of the top of the tree. "How am I supposed to decorate this?"  
  
"With lights and ornaments, or toilet paper for a slightly less traditional approach."  
  
"I mean how am I going to reach the top? I'm not standing on a chair either- last time I sprained my ankle and toppled the tree."  
  
"But." he whined, "You have to get a real tree."  
  
"Well I can't decorate it."  
  
"What if I help? I'm over five foot two. Wasn't that the requirement?"  
  
"I couldn't ask you to that."  
  
"You didn't; I offered. Besides, it would be fun. I haven't decorated a tree since I was a little kid."  
  
"Well in that case where's the saw my big strong man?" They cut down the eight-foot tall tree and managed to tie it to Mulder's car well enough to survive the trip back to Scully's building. It took both of them to carry it up to the nicely decorated apartment. The two of them forged down into Scully's storage area and came back up with boxes of ornaments and lights. They put a Christmas cd on the stereo and began to string lights around the tree. Scully gave Mulder a detailed history of each ornament as they hung them.  
  
When they were done with the tree Scully offered him a cup of coffee. He agreed and she went into the kitchen to fill two mugs. They sat down on the couch with their coffee and admired the tree. She leaned into him and let him wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Thank you for today. It's really been fun," Mulder said.  
  
"Mmmm," was Scully's only response. They sat in the merry silence, leaning together and absorbing the other's presence for a few minutes. Soft Christmas carols still played in the background and the beautifully decorated tree gleamed before them. "You," Scully said cautiously.  
  
"Hmm?" Mulder exhaled into her soft red hair.  
  
"You asked me what I want for Christmas. I want you."  
  
After a long silence between the two of them Mulder finally spoke. "I don't think that'll happen Scully." Her frightened smile fell and she felt herself collapse. Mulder felt it too. She was on the verge of tears when he spoke again. "Because I want you now." He kissed her gently. 


End file.
